A wide range of medical procedures involve placing objects such as sensors, tubes, catheters, dispensing devices, and implants, within the body. An example of a medical procedure performed with a catheter is ablation of body tissue such as heart tissue. The ablation may be used to cure a variety of cardiac arrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation. Such procedures are known in the art. Other medical procedures using ablation of body tissue, such as treating varicose veins, are also known in the art. The ablation energy for these procedures may be in the form of radio-frequency (RF) energy, which is supplied to the tissue via one or more electrodes of a catheter used for the procedures.
The application of the ablation energy to body tissue, if uncontrolled, may lead to an unwanted increase of temperature of the tissue. It is consequently important to monitor and control the temperature of the tissue during any medical procedure involving ablation. One method for control is to irrigate the tissue being ablated.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that to the extent any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with the definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.